Livia never liked the Second Prince. Even in her first life, he was a bit scummy. He was the type to get close to the female lead even when she obviously chose her mark. Prince Orin would put on a nice friendly face while plotting to make Amelia his behind his own brothers back. Of course, she only saw his charming side in her first life, but even then, she couldn't shake the feeling of distrust.
She only conquered him to 100% the game.
Now she knows first-hand that the warning bells she got from him weren't wrong. At least with Crown Prince Rodale, he had an excuse for becoming a cold, ruthless bastard, but the Second Prince did not. He was loved. Cherished. It seems he was simply born a little...off.
The captured targets all had a dark, underline allure to them. The game had a wide audience, though. It could never take things too far, but it certainly wasn't shy about hinting at more mature things almost tauntingly. Maybe that is why she became so obsessed with the game. There was always a feeling of something lurking underneath the linear and predictable plot of Aster Academy:
The Feuding Houses. As if the creators restrained themselves.
"The reasoning behind such violent actions does not matter. What does matter is that it has happened and the culprit sits right in front of us," Orin says harshly.
The second Prince turns to the Crown Prince with his face set in stone, "Brother, we cannot just sit by and do nothing. It is a known fact that Livia has been bullying Miss Amelia since she arrived and now, she had taken it to far! What do you suggest we do with this would-be killer?"
'How heroic. After standing by and doing nothing for two months as I constantly bullied Amelia, today is the day that you make a grand reaction when you had looked the other way for days on end.'
Livia shakes her head in disbelief.
See?
Scummy.
"You dare deny it even now?" Orin spat, taking a threatening step closer.
Livia's head snaps up. She watches with slightly wide eyes as the Second Prince hands fall to the hilt of his sword. She probably looks like she was staring at him in utter fear, but in reality, she was just mildly curious.
'He is showing off his true self quite a bit today. I haven't seen him flash that sweet faker smile once this evening. How odd.'
Not exactly the thought she should be having given her impending doom, but there was nothing she could really do about it. She put herself in this situation, and could only watch numbly as it happened. Her emotions and rationality were miles away, off on a deserted island far out of her reach.
She knew, distantly, that she was likely going into shock, but it felt like it was happening to someone else. It felt like she was once again back in her old room, cocooned in a blanket as she watched the events play out on the screen of her TV.
It felt like she wasn't the one being condemned, but Livia, the 'original'.